In fiber to the home (FTTH) and fiber to the desk (FTTD) communication networks, the communication socket is often used as a terminal connecting device for fiber and cable. At present, there are many kinds of communication sockets for mounting on a wall and for accommodating optical fiber connectors which made up of fiber connector plug and corresponding socket and electrical connectors to provide a communication interface and protect the connectors and connections. The communication socket is favored due to the ease of installation and the flexibility of connection.
However, conventional communication sockets have a larger size, they shall be independently mounted or engage with a special base box on the wall, they cannot match with a common standard base box.
Additional deficiencies in the conventional communication sockets are as follows:
1. Access to current communication sockets is limited, that is, conventional communication sockets do not allow fibers to be connected in all directions.
2. With respect to the protection for the fiber and cable, the fiber's bend radius can not be satisfied.
3. Shapes and directions of fiber and copper cable entering communication sockets are limited.
4. Existing communication sockets do not provide adequate fiber management. The fiber path is disordered, which may result in damage to the fiber.
There are some inventions having been developed to solve the above problems. For example, both of U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,510 (Nov. 11, 1990) and PCT Application WO1997044872 (1997.1.27) have disclosed a communication socket, which accommodates a plurality of optical fiber connectors and electrical connectors and stores the fibers and cable. However, the sizes of these communication sockets are large, which is not able to match with international wall mount boxes and sockets like for example 86×86 mm defined by British Standards and there is no all-direction connection means.